The geographical distribution of the EARLINET stations is particularly suitable for dust observation, with stations located all around the Mediterranean (from the Iberian Peninsula in the West to the Greece and Bulgaria and Romania in the East) and in the center of the Mediterranean (Italian stations) where dust intrusions are frequent, and with several stations in the central Europe where dust penetrates occasionally.

                    A suitable observing methodology has been established within the network, based on
                    Saharan dust alerts distributed to all EARLINET stations. The dust alert is based
                    on the operational outputs (aerosol dust load) of the DREAM (Dust REgional Atmospheric 
                    Model), and the Skiron models. The alerts are diffused 24 to 36 hours prior to the 
                    arrival of dust aerosols over the EARLINET sites. Runs of measurements longer than 
                    3-hour observations, typical for the EARLINET climatological measurements are 
                    performed at the EARLINET stations in order to investigate the temporal evolution 
                    of the dust events. All aerosol backscatter and extinction profiles related to 
                    observations of Saharan dust layers are collected in the "Saharan dust" category of 
                    the EARLINET database.